In this Fuse News exclusive, we hit the red carpet for the premiere of This Is Illmatic, the documentary on Nas’ legendary 1994 record.

Screening a film about your seminal work is nerve-wracking, and the rapper wasn't immune. "I thought about
not showing up but then I remembered I have a performance. I can't turn back now," he tells Fuse.

Eric Parker, the producer of the film, said This Is Illmatic was 10 years in the works. “The pages weren’t big enough to hold the actual story. We started shooting the people surrounding Illmatic and the story started taking on a life of its own.”

Director ONE9 agrees, adding, “The biggest hurdle for us was how to tell the story the right way without any real funding. It wasn’t until we got proper funding and they let first-time filmmakers tell an honest, gritty story. That was the biggest hurdle. Once we got to that level, it was all good."

Nas stays humble, thanking his mom over all others. “She raised me and my brother. She taught me everything. She’s making all of this happen in a lot of ways, so thank you.”